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From the Heart of the Incident
From the Heart of the Incident (Play), May-August 2022
About this event
The play developed by Rae with writer/performer Ghazi Hussein and his friend and fellow Palestinian activist, Dr. Issam Bassalat. The play focuses on the recent experience of Scottish Citizen Dr. Bassalat who was held for 16 months in a top security prison in Belfast, having been lured to a meeting of the Real IRA by a man who has now been publicly acknowledged to be an MI5 agent. With the welcome return to the stage of Helen Trew as the lawyer, plays his friend Dr.Issam, as they explore the human rights concern in a justice system where security considerations dominate. Despite major back surgery and a heart attack Issam remained incarcerated for 16 months and still awaits a non-jury trial in Belfast. Audience Feedback: “Excellent acting and more details about Issam’s intriguing heartbreaking story – highly recommended. You’ve only got Tuesday 9th to catch this amazing Fringe production in Edinburgh!” – Julia Davidson
From the Horse’s Mouth and Hear My New Life
From the Horse’s Mouth (Panel) and Hear My New Life (Sound installation), January-June 2022
Presentation by Artist in Residence Elaine Cheng where she explored the binaries of Hong Kong and China through her new sonic composition which premiered in early June 2022, panel discussion and tales of the life of those who have settled in Edinburgh.About this event
‘Hear My New Life’ is a new sonic art piece by Elaine Cheng, Art27scotland Artist in Residence. The piece features voices from the local Edinburgh Chinese community describing their experiences of living in Edinburgh as a person of Chinese heritage. Elaine has also used recordings from free improvisation sessions, some of which are improvisations based on the words taken from the Chinese community’s experience. Elaine Cheng (she/her) is a composer/sound artist from Edinburgh, Scotland and from Hong Kong descent. Her practice is currently based around producing drone music from analog and modular synthesisers and has come from a compositional background in electroacoustic music. She has recently completed the Creative Practice Masters at Goldsmiths, University of London, under the supervision of Dr. Iris Garrelfs. In her debut album, Instead of Dreams (2021), she explores compositional techniques in drone and takes inspiration from her choral training in early music. Prior to this, Elaine has studied Music at Newcastle University and Musikwissenschaft at Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin where she fostered her interest in working in sound. Her final compositional project at Newcastle, Happy Accidents (2015), was composed from field recordings she took in Berlin and Newcastle as well as a collaboration with fellow singer and experimental artist, Meena Daneshyar. Elaine has exhibited sonic artwork in the Culture Lab, Square One and Occasion Festival in Newcastle, as well as at Trinity Apse in the Edinburgh Student Arts Festival (ESAF). In 2017, she was nominated for an award for her work, Happy Accidents, at the Edinburgh Student Arts Festival.
Saber Came to Tea
Saber Came to Tea (Short play), June-October 2021 صابر جاء لتناول الشاي
Playing for two nights as an integrated musical and theatre performance, it was followed by an expert-led panel discussion that on the first night highlighted the situation for artists in war, and second the bombardment of Yemen and the ensuing humanitarian crisis.About this event
Saber and Shatha arrived in Edinburgh from Yemen mid-pandemic, and opportunities for collaboration were limited. Able to respond quickly, Art27scotland’s embedded artist Robert Rae worked with them to develop an appropriate collaborative process. Saber hoped to work with Scottish musicians, and in response to Art27scotland’s Human Rights agenda, Shatha wanted to pursue her art in “Scratched Identities”. Together they wanted to find a way to tell their story. An evening of music, performance, visual art and conversation devised and directed by Robert Rae with Shatha Altowai, Saber Bamatraf and Ghazi Hussein. Audience Feedback: “Powerful , moving , poignant ,compassionate and brave”. – Joanna Boyce
Maryland
Maryland (play), November 2021
About this event
Maryland, written in response to the murders of Sarah Everard and SabinaNessa,is described by the playwright Lucy Kirkwood as ‘a howl of rage’.Afteran extended sell-outrun at London’s Royal Court in October, this astonishing,visceral cry of furyhasbeenmadetemporarilyavailable for script-in-handperformance andisbeing hosted by Art27Scotland atthe SouthsideCommunity Centre in Edinburgh for one night only. On 20November 2021, amulti-cultural, multi-generational cast of 20 will give two performances of thepiece at [TIME] and [TIME]. It runs for approximately 30 minutes. Theperformances will be socially distanced and all attendees areasked/required?to wear masks throughout their visit. Tickets cost £5 with a suggesteddonation to Rape CrisisEdinburgh of at least £7. [Booking details]‘A tiny enormous play’: Vicky Featherstone, Director, Royal Court‘The culminative effect is as devastating as a punch to thesolar plexus.’Whatsonstage.com
Pride and Dignity
Pride and Dignity (Panel discussion), June 2022
Pride month is upon us and Art27scotland will be celebrating it with the event organised by the Polish artist in residence: Robert Motyka. Following the series of workshops and meetings that Robert held with the Polish community, we focus on Pride and Dignity this year.About this event
The obstacles that the LGBTQ+ community in Poland faces and how Robert and the other activists have assisted the Polish same-sex couples in legalising their relationships in Scotland. At the moment, Polish law defines marriage only as a union of a man and a woman, but many Poles and their partners travelled abroad to Scotland (before Brexit) and other countries, to see how their lives could be if the community’s rights were recognised in Poland. The event will consist of a panel talk with Robert Motyka and Basia Mindewicz – the artists and activists from the Polish LGBTQ+ community in Scotland – discussing the challenges of their home country and how their fight for dignity and recognition of rights can be supported. They will be joined by Stephen McCabe – a therapist with over a decade’s worth of experience specifically supporting LGBT+ communities, focusing on the therapist’s insights on self-care and wellbeing. The panel talk (in English) will be illustrated with Robert’s large-scale projections based on the press cuttings documenting the process in the Polish media.
